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Dusty lumps masquerading as pyramids

From Rich in the Americas! in Chiclayo, Peru on Sep 19 '06

Rich has visited no places in Chiclayo
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I love these dogs!  This one is sporting a particularly nice bleach blond mohican.
I love these dogs! This one is sporting a particularly nice bleach blond mohican.
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On the advice of a Belgian guy (ok, ok, I know I shouldn't accept advice from Belgians but I thought 'What harm can it do?'), I found myself on an early morning bus heading to the coast via the Cañon del Pato.  In all honesty, the views were pretty good and the bus journey wasn't too bad, setting aside the mere 9 hours it took rather than the supposed 7.

As my iPod is broken, my attention on the bus journey turned to how many pips the orange I was eating contained.  It had 19 pips.  And 12 segments.  Giving an average of 1.58 pips per segment.

Anthills.  Big anthills mind, but still anthills.
Anthills. Big anthills mind, but still anthills.
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Anyhoo, I just made it onto a bus to Chiclayo and arrived there at about 9.30pm after 14 hours of travelling.  Knackered is what I was.

Spent the next day wandering around Chiclayo.  Went to the Mercado del Brujos (Witches market for those with rubbish Spanish) as it was supposed to be full of witch doctors and dried arms of things, pickled eyes of other things, and stuffed heads of dead things.  Well, there were a lot of plants.  And stuff in packets.  But not a lot of the exciting things promised by the guide book (damn lonely planet!)

What do you do when you find some really important ruins?  You put up a set of goal posts next to the main pyramid!  Nice!
What do you do when you find some really important ruins? You put up a set of goal posts next to the main pyramid! Nice!
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Plans for the next day involved getting up early to get to the Tucumé ruins followed by a quick jaunt around some museums.  Now, imagine, if you will, pyramids made of mud that have been exposed to wind and rain for thousands of years.  You now have a pretty good idea of what the Tucumé ruins are like.  They're ok is what I'm trying to say.  Not great, is another way of putting it.


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